Stitches
by xxBBsxBabexx
Summary: Young and newly crowned Jack stumbled upon a dying, human Sally. Saving her, she is grateful at first but when he says she is not to leave Halloweentown, she's outraged and scared. Jack keeps her for her own safety, but is that the only reason? JackxSally
1. Meeting Sally

With Zero faithfully by his side Jack walked on to the woods. This was a daily routine, as of last month with only two hundred and seventy-two days left until the next Halloween. Jack had run out of ideas, the mayor had rejected every single one of them. To be honest he had expected that to happen as this was only his third year as the Pumpkin King since his father had been killed by a mysterious and unknown hand. The mayor had been upset ever since then and had his own ways of taking his grief out on Jack. He always took it out on poor Jack. He let out a sigh.

"Zero, I don't know how Dad put up with all this. I wish he were still here, I could really use a hand." Zero yipped in response and circled around his dearest friend's long, thin, skeletal legs. Jack chuckled lightly but shortly bowed his head after. "I just don't get it, boy. What am I supposed to do to make everyone happy and to create a scarier, more malevolent Halloween?" A soft sound came from behind the bushes, a sound that seemed as though a young girl had the wind knocked out of her, followed by a thud.

"Who's there?" Jack questioned immediately. His curiousity over took him and he dashed to where the sound was. There were many trees and bushes that caused him to nearly lose his balance, but being related to his father, the very first Pumpkin King, he dodged them with spider-like ease. "Hello?" He called out. His answer was a pained moan, and he followed it. Where it lead to was a young, red headed maiden of about sixteen with a lithe body and large green eyes. Jack was too distracted by how her eyes sparkled to notice how much pain they held.

"Uh, are you alright, miss?" He asked then. As she began to speak, she yelped and held her stomach. She clenched her eyes shut as she fought tears of pain and agony.

"Alas kind sir, I'm not." Zero began growling at something and floated over to the girl in a protective stance.

"Zero what's the matter?" Then Jack took realization in what Zero felt threatened by, the smell of the girl's blood. He knelt down beside her and gentley pulled her hand away from a gash that was bleeding like a river. "Forgive me but I need to take you to our town's doctor." He lifted the human girl up in his long arms. Getting ready to rush to Dr. Finkletein's lair, the girl stopped him.

"Please leave me here to die? I can no longer carry the burden of life on my shoulders. It's too much for me to handle." Jack shook his head. He knew what had happened now, at least he thought so. With a glare to the Heavens, Jack darted off into town with the dying human laying limp in his arms. It didn't take long for him to get to the doctor's lab. Jack barged in.

"Hello? Doctor? I need your help and quickly." The grouch of a doctor came rolling in on his mechanical wheel chair with a huff and asked what the problem was. "This girl is dying. Is there anyway you could fix her wounds? Please, doctor, I can't allow this girl to die on my grounds."

Jack knew he sounded desperate yet he didn't care for it simply because of the fact that he was, indeed, desperate for this girl to live. There had only ever been one death that had taken place in Halloween town and it was that of his father. He would not let that happen again under his reign. They were almost the exact words his father had said once he gained position of the throne.

"I can. Put her on that table over there. Igor! Fetch me my medical supplies." Igor limped to the multiple shelves of his master's lab and brought the kit over to him. "Good. Now let's see what the damage is. Hm." He observed the girl's wound and frowned. "She's fading fast. Fret not, I shall work faster." The doctor went to work at once. Jack stepped outside to breathe in the fresh air. He had always hated watching that kind of stuff. He waited for thirty brutal minutes, standing and shivering in fear for the human's life. Luckily the doctor wheeled out without a hint of alteration in his emotion.

"She's going to be fine, Jack. She's lucky you found her out there. She would have died for sure if you hadn't been out wondering amongst the forest . You can come in and see her if you want." Jack smiled and nodded happily.

"Yes, I would very much like to see her, thank you." Jack took long strides as he made his way over to the table the girl lied on. "Are you alright?" He asked with concern lacing his tone. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled.

"I am. I want to thank you, yet I'm so very unhappy. But you have my thanks, nonetheless." Jack frowned.

"Tell me what were you doing in the woods all on your own?" The girl coughed weakly twice before answering his question.

"I was trying to run away. I got lost and found my way to a circle of trees. They were the strangest trees I've ever seen, Jack." His sockets widened.

"How did you know my name?" Jack questioned with a ubiquitous curiousty.

"I heard the doctor speak of you. I'm sorry for the loss of your father. I can relate, as I have lost my mother long before."

"Thank you for your condolences miss." Then he realized, "I'm sorry but...I never got _your_ name." The girl smiled lightly.

"It's Sally." Jack nodded. "Is there anything else you'd like to know? I mean, you helped save my life, surely there's got to be something I can do for you in return?" He thought for a while until he asked her a question.

"You tried to commit suicide didn't you?" Her eyes widened a bit only to close for a second. A morbid smile was painted on her red lips as hatred took residence in her heart.

"I did." She stated quietly.

"But why?"

"I couldn't handle the stress anymore. As I told you I tried to run away and soon found that I was lost in the woods. By the time I got to the trees I was able to hear my deceased mother's voice and I knew I had gone mad. I didn't want to tarnish my family's name so I tried to end myself." Jack sighed through his nose.

"Then I would like you to stay here in Halloweentown. I will keep watch over you at all times and if I can't I will find someone who can." She looked at him with disbelief.

"You're a mere teenaged boy you couldn't possibly understand where I'm coming from with this."

"I understand more then you think, Sally. So much more. I mean look at me! I'm a living skeleton!" Sally turned her head and frowned.

"An appearence can decieve. For instance a woman who is quiet and wears glasses gives off an intelligent aura. She could very well be just as smart as you and just as easily make a mistake. Just because you are a skeleton does not mean you know everything there is to know about death."

"But I do, Sally, I do. Ask me a question about death and I will answer truthfully, simply, and as best as I can." She pondered and thought of a question that would be simple but difficult.

"Very well then...what awaits us beyond the grave? Where do we go after breathing our very last breath and our vision goes black?" Jack smiled joyfully.

"Why here of course! Where every dead king and queen can dance 'til dawn breaks and the night after. We plan every Halloween to the tiniest detail and make each and every one a little spookier then the last." Jack wore a proud smile.

"That tells me nothing of death. You mean to tell me every last soul of the millions of deceased people reside in this small town? Is there no Heaven, no Hell? You said you knew everything about it." Jack lowered his gaze.

"Not exactly." Sally struggled to get up, yelping once and that's when Jack helped her to sit up, propped on her elbow. With a sigh, she began.

"Jack, I know things that I could be killed for if anyone ever found out. Would it hurt you if you could just tell me what lies beyond the grave? And if not, could you tell me that you don't know?" Jack looked at her with the precise stubborn pride that he inherited from his father. Sally averted her gaze and moved it every which way then got an idea. She flipped her wrist over and pulled up her sleeve quickly. There, on her pale white skin, was a black triquetra. He looked at it in amazement.

He was speechless. "You know what this is, don't you?" Sally questioned in a calm, knowing tone. Jack merely gave a nod and continued staring. "It's because of my mark that I am forced to sit alone in my room and sweat in the summer wearing long sleeved shirts and am unable to attend active games with my few friends. I sat alone and awaited my father to come into my room with my mother by his side so that he may teach me proper use of language and ediquette while reading to me the Bible. My parents were disgraced by my birthmark." His head shot up to make eye contact with her.

"You mean to tell me that that's a birthmark? It isn't a tattoo?" Sally shook her head, proving that Jack had the wrong idea.

"I am not one to get such markings. I was born with this symbol and it has been with me through everything that's ever happened within my short life."

"Sally, you're a born Wiccan!" She nodded once and rolled her sleeve down. She looked out the large window and held herself as if she was cold, but she was really only trying to find comfort within herself as she had done many times before.

"It _is _a curse, really. I was not to be let out of my room, I was not to go to school, I was not to play with my friends, I was always in unwanted solitude. As if that weren't enough to soil my family's pure, Christian name. I know I must be insane for I see a living skeleton such as you and I feel no fear. I simply must be." Jack grabbed her arms and looked at her with a soft smile.

"You are not mad, Sally. If you were mad don't you think somebody would've caught you buy now? Or maybe you would still be hearing voices in your head?" He hugged her. "You're not insane, Sally. Not even a little." Sally hugged him back with one arm wrapped around her stomach and one around his neck.

"Thank you, Jack, I appreciate the thought of someone else seeing me as...normal." She smiled. "How long must I wait to remove the stitches?" She pulled back and lifted her shirt up to see the stiching. Jack turned his head, feeling that this situation had just turned uncomfortable to him.

"Um, I'm not sure. I'll go ask the doctor." Just as he was about to take his leave, Sally called out to him.

"Wait, Jack." Her turned around, seeing that her shirt was over her pale, flat stomach once again.

"Yes?" He asked as he went back to her seat on the table.

"Must I stay here in Halloweentown forever?" Jack cocked his head ever so slightly and pondered her question while squinting his eyes. He took in a deep breath, smiled, and gave her his answer.

"Yes. You will be watched over at all times whether it be by a fellow citizen or by myself personally, you will be staying here." Sally looked at him with a suspicion.

"Why should you give me orders?" She interviewed.

"Because I am the Second Pumpkin King. I have taken my passed father's place on the throne."

"But if everyone here is already dead then how can someone die again?" Jack's eyes widened as she asked a question he only partially knew.

"Well, it's a complicated concept. There are four stages in life. Birth, Life, Death, and the Afterlife. Right now we are standing in the the Death stage. If one were murdered in any way in this part of the cycle they would move on into the Afterlife. Though this isn't exactly the entire stage of Death, it is for those who are not allowed into the Afterlife, who can't make one. And that, my dear Sally, is what we commonly call ghosts or phantoms."

Sally nodded as she soaked in the recent information given to her. "I have to admit that's impressive, but as soon as these stitches come out I'm leaving this place I'm sorry to say."

"I will make sure that you don't leave. I have the strongest men in my army and have several body guards. I'm sure I can spare a few to look over you while I'm away." She looked at him angerily.

"And just how old are you exactly, young Jack?" He smirked.

"Eighteen." She huffed. "And just how old might you be?" She remained silent for a moment.

"Sixteen. Age does not matter anyhow. Maturity lies within knowledge and experience. You, Jack, have zero." Jack smirked and blinked at her. She was fiesty and stubborn, and he kind of liked it. Sally was really cute, long red hair, sparkling jade green eyes, curves in all the right places, flawless, pale skin, tall for her age and gender, and a gentle smile that warmed hearts all around. Of course he would feel an attraction to her being as young as he was but this was different in some way, in a way that he could not identify.

"What ever you say, Sally, but I'm the boss of things around here now and I say that you're not going anywhere. I can't risk you dying or trying to kill yourself again." She looked up at him with venom laced in her words and an unspoken fury in her green eyes.

"Why does it matter to you? A man of only eighteen who meets a girl such as I and now wants to keep her from her family, why it's almost barbaric if I do say so myself. And trust me, Jack, I _do_." Jack shrugged her words off, knowing that she was only scared and she was starting to realize that this was not one of those dreams of hers.

"You can think what ever you want but I make the rules around here, you're not leaving this place without my permission and believe me you will never get it, and just to make sure," He pinched her arm, causing her to wince and hold the mark. "You're not dreaming." He turned away and walked up the ramp that led to the doctor's office and knocked on the metal door.

"Yes, come in." Jack twisted the knoband walked in. "Is something the matter, young Skellington?" The immobile doctor asked.

"Nothing so large that it can't be properly handled. I need Sally to be taken care of at all times. I don't have much experience with babysitting, as you can imagine, do you have any reccomendations?" The doctor looked down in thought, going through every possible style of protection and watching over someone. His head snapped up and just as he was about to speak they both heard a crash.

"What was that?" Jack asked worried. Doctor Finkelstein shook it off as his hunchback assisstant.

"It was most likely Igor losing his way again. You know how he is." Jack had this feeling, almost as natural as an instinct, that it was no where close to Igor fumbling around.

"Or Sally trying to run away again." Jack ran down the ramp just in time to see Sally attempting an escape but was in far too much pain. She held her stomach and quieted her screams of agony into loud groans or torture. Jack picked her up immediately and laid her back down on the table.

"I thought I told you you're staying here." Sally was in unbearable pain, and it was so that she couldn't even speak because of the torment she felt in her stomach that spread throughout her body. "Don't move again or you'll only regret it."

He didn't mean it as a threat, she really would regret it. The more she moved around freely the more pain she would feel. Try telling me you wouldn't regret causing yourself your own physical pain? It was only a warning for her to take caution and to listen to him. "I'm trying to make arrangments with the doctor. Please don't interrupt us again, it's for you're own well being." He turned on his heel only to meet the scientist in front of him.

"I suggest you keep her within your own house hold, Jack. I know it my seem inappropriate but if your wishes and demands are to be met this is the way they are to be done. It'll be much easier to leave her at your house being watched over by, say, two guards rather then to drag her around every here and there now wouldn't it?" Jack pondered the situation, ending his thought process with a nod.

"Indeed. So it's settled then. I'll bring Sally back to my place when her stitches have healed. In the mean time I suppose I should prepare for her arrival, no?" He laughed with the doctor as Sally fought back a whimper of fear and a sob of the loss of all hope. She would be trapped here for the rest of her life, never has she wanted it to end this badly before, and it was all Jack's fault.


	2. One Week Later

_**NoTe: Sally is from a strictly Amish family that somewhat speaks in the old English dialect, just wanted to get that cleared up because I know some of you are thinking wtf when she talks sometimes. Happy to say though, Sally doesn't always speak in that exact manner as the author has no freaking clue how to type in that exact manner. :] **_

Sally hated this place. She hated the smell of it, the look of it, even the feeling she got just being in it. The doctor's lab was indeed a rotten looking establishment covered in dust, cob webs, and numerous hairy spiders. She cringed as she saw one scurry along one of the shelves, spiders being as disgusting as they were in her eyes. Sally heard the squeal of Doctor Finklestein's mechanical wheel chair coming in her direction.

Quickly, so as not to get caught, she lay back down on the couch the doctor allowed her to use rather than the uncomfortable metal table. He recommended as much rest as possible for Sally, that didn't include sitting up straight observing everything in sight as she had been doing ever since she got here.

"How are you feeling, Sally?" She thought it better to lie to him; maybe if they thought that her stitches were almost ready to come out then she could make another break for it. She could only hope that this time she could actually manage to make it out the door.

"Much better than I was before, doctor. Could you please look at the stitches? It feels like they're ready to come out." Dr. Finklestein chuckled to himself already having an idea of what Sally was trying to pull.

"Sally you've only been here for a week. The stitches won't be able to come out for another five days at the least." Sally winced and clenched her teeth. If five days was the least then what was the most?

"And at the maximum time, how long would I have to wait at the most?" He thought it over in his head using his advanced and strategic calculations.

"Three weeks. No more than that. Afterwards you'll be able to live with his majesty Jack Skellington." He tried to brighten her mood, odd as it sounds, but his attempts were in vain as he saw her facial expression harden. The ancient doctor knew that she wasn't very fond of the young king after their argument on her stay in Halloween town, and that it would take a lot for her to take a liking to Jack.

"I'd rather die." Sally had half a mind to rip the stitches out on her own and be the cause of her own death rather than live here forever. She only knew three people and that was his Royal Highness Jack, the doctor Finklestein, and the hunchback Igor. She could never go on with only three people in her life, even in her old life living with her father she would sneak out in the late hours to relax with her friends.

"Please, Sally, do you really hate Jack so much?" She spat back at him with complete hatred for the accursed name.

"Yes, doctor, as a matter of fact I do!" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, trying her best not to scream from the recent pain the fast movement caused.

"Perhaps you and Jack got off on the wrong foot. Staying in Halloween town isn't so bad, why; you'd only end up coming back here after you die so it's better to get acquainted with it while you have the chance." Sally kept her head turned away from the doctor. She didn't care if she had to come back here when she was dead, she wanted to live the remainder of her life outside of the town and make herself a new and improved life.

"Perhaps so, but he's forcing me into something I cannot accept. I am not a part of this or any world and he's trying to make me fit in, seem like I belong when in the brutal reality I will never." A knock on the door was heard and echoed through the lab.

"The door's open. Come right in." The doctor said rather blankly. The door opened and let in a stream of light along with the Pumpkin King. "Why good morning, Jack! I didn't expect you to come this early!" Jack smiled and nodded towards the doctor before placing his attention on Sally.

"Yes I know I said I would be visiting later but I'm free for today." Doctor Finklestein looked on with astonishment.

"You mean to tell me that you're actually free for today? Well what about the mayor, my boy?" Jack laughed lightly.

"The mayor has fallen ill. He told me that if everyone wishes to take the day off they may. So as of this very moment everyone is in their house sleeping soundly." He looked at Sally, who was looking at him and noticed. She gasped and turned her head back, making her long red hair whip across her shoulder. Jack whispered to the doctor. "Is she still mad?"

"She's more than mad, Jack, I'd say she was infuriated. I'm trying to get her used to the idea but she's so stubborn. In all honesty, Jack, she reminds me a great deal of you." He smiled at the young king with pure truth. Jack looked at him with shock and looked back over to the ginger. She was terrifyingly stubborn and has been so since she arrived. With a sigh, Jack nodded in agreement.

"Yes, she is really very stubborn." Jack muttered to himself. The doctor came up with an idea that on instance of recognition made him smile.

"Jack, since everyone has taken the day off, why don't you show Sally around town?" Something sparked Jack's mind, but he liked the idea. He just didn't know if it would be good for Sally. Mainly two specific reasons held him back, one, her attitude and hatred of both him and Halloween town. Two, her stitches still weren't ready to come out yet. After she pulled her escape stunt Jack held a bit of caution when being around her, who's to say she wouldn't be able to outwit him and run off? Well, with every reward there's a risk.

"Very well then, I'll show her around the town in an hour. No one will be out and about at that time and thankfully so. I don't think she's quite ready to meet everyone just yet. She's far too arrogant." He heard a feminine growl accompanied by a complaint.

"I can hear you; I'm not unconscious!" Sally groaned. "Doctor Finklestein if you'd be so kind as to remove this man from my sight I would be forever grateful to you." She commanded yet begged of the doctor.

"Now, now, Sally, you know I can't do that. Jack is not only a well respected and invited guest but he is the highest ranking nobility of the town." She crossed her arms tighter.

"A royal ass is what he is." She grumbled beneath her breath. Igor laughed obnoxiously, taking her insult as sacrilege, and continued doing so. She had meant that Jack was a donkey, or possibly, if she really wanted to, a jackass.

"Sally! That indecency toward the king is not tolerated!"

"Forgive me if I offend you but this, this, this thing is not my king!" She scolded, a faint British accent arising. "I am supposed to be at home studying the Bible yet again because of the mark that I wear. It's not of my choosing for if it was I surely would not have this satanic symbol about my flesh!" Her nails dug into her skin, and Jack saw a few droplets of her blood, and her faint cry did not go unheard by the young king either.

He walked over to her quietly and ever so carefully. He put his hand on her shoulder gently and looked into her jade green eyes.

"Keep away from me." She cried, a tear streaming down her face as her voice sunk to a lower tone and cracked. Jack grabbed a tender hold of the hand that was clawing through her skin and pulled it away from her, and he just sat there, kneeling by her side while holding her hand with blood-tipped finger nails. They just sat there, looking at each other. Jack was surprised not to see utter detestation and hatred for him, but complete terror and the horror of not knowing where you are or what's gong on or what's just around the corner.

"Sally, I'm going to keep you safe here. There's nothing to be afraid of." He put her hand on his cheek, even though it was only cold, hard bone, he could feel the heat in her hand overflowing his sense of touch on instant. "I promise." She looked at him astounded, taking in every word he said, only to narrow her eyes and take her hand back in spite.

"Promises are broken more often than not amongst the living!" She cried. "Who is to say the same can not be said for the dead? Lead me to this person at once so that I may hang him by his own train of thought!" Jack, taken aback, stared blankly at her.

"Promises are always kept in Halloween town. A promise of his majesty is always intact once it has been said and done." He assured her. "If you will just allow me to show you about the town, perhaps you'll see from another's shoes."

Sally shuddered at the idea of roaming around a city spilling over with the dead and decayed corpses of past fellows who have had their chance to bathe in the daylight.

"Very well, I will walk the settlement just for today. Shall I see any of your…folk; I must be taken back immediately and no less than that precise time. My standards are to be met expectedly and exactly when I say so. Do we have an understanding…your Highness?" She teased him.

Jack nodded once. "We do." He agreed.

"Good, I will see you in this very spot in no less and no more than thirty minutes, Mr. Skellington, or else the date will be cancelled." She informed him slyly. Had Jack been privileged with flesh, his cheeks would have burned at the alluring tone in her voice.

"Have it your way. I will be here in thirty minutes." He bid them both a good day and exited the laboratory. The aged doctor looked at Sally completely stunned at the bargain she had just made with the King of Halloween.

"How in the world did you manage the courage to stand up to the young king in such a manner?" He questioned her. "No one has ever been able to accomplish that much in so little time with poor Jack!" Sally smirked at the old, exhausted man, and rubbed her pierced skin cautiously.

"A girl has her ways. Do you have any other clothes besides this tattered hospital gown?" She pleaded with him. He contemplated for a brief moment before snapping his fingers and wheeling himself up the ramp. Sally waited patiently for her potential clothing and momentarily Dr. Finklestein was handing Sally an off the shoulder, long sleeved, brown dress that fell just around her knees. The front of the dress had an upside down V-shape, exposing her legs from the knees down.

"This was intended for the Pumpkin Queen over fifty years ago, but she went missing before the coronation." Sally went from curiosity to horrified interest in the blink of an eye. "Don't worry, Sally, nothing happened in the dress, it's perfectly fine." She gingerly took the old fabric, and held it up to her chest, looking down at it to get an idea of how it might look.

"Where can I change?" He motioned to a heavy, red curtain on the other side of the room. "Oh, thank you." She changed behind the curtain, determined to get this over with as fast as she could. Once she was in the dress and had a pair of tan flats on she stepped out from behind the barrier to examine the outfit in a full length mirror. As she observed her reflection, she semi-ignored the doctor's rambling but listened nonetheless.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that you were the long lost queen, Sally." He chuckled. "The resemblance is uncanny. Igor, fetch the picture for me." He commanded the hunchback. Sally spun around in the dress and marveled how it fit her to perfection. When the doctor's assistant came back with the frame, Finklestein looked closely at it and smiled. "She was going to be a great ruler. She had so much promise." He said while handing the picture over to Sally.

She scanned the old photograph and held it with extreme care. The picture honestly reminded her more of her grandmother than it did of her.

"Doctor," She began. "I think this is my grandmother. She's got the same eyes, and the same scar on her cheek from a cooking accident, I don't think this is me." She shook her head and gave it back to him. He looked closely for the scar she commented about.

"If my calculations are correct, that isn't a scar, but a birthmark. Did she have one?" Sally bit her lip and inhaled, trying to think about the question.

"Um, no, I don't believe so. Not on her face anyways, I think she had a strawberry shape on the back of her neck but nothing other than that."

"Mhm, yes, yes, do you have any birthmarks or scars?" She shook her head.

"I'm afraid I don't." A knock on the door was heard shortly before the doctor commanded the visitor to enter. There stood Jack without a hint of fear; he was drenched with confidence, as was Sally.

"Jack, right on time, not a second sooner, not a second later." Sally commented smugly. He replied.

"I'm usually behind schedule but in some cases I have tendency of being punctual." She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really, and this just so coincidentally happens to be one of those cases?" The young skeleton smirked.

"Strangely enough, yes it is. Are you ready?" She walked to his side and looked up at him.

"I've been ready." She said cockily. She looped her arm around his and he led the both of them out of the claustrophobic laboratory and into the bright, vacant town of Halloween. The first thing Sally had seen when she had gone through the center of the town was the large fountain that appeared to be some sort of goblin choking itself.

"It's…interesting to say the least." She muttered partly politely.

"It's one of the oldest monuments in town. Not very many people consider its meaning, but it's still beautiful, well, as long as you look past the grime." Jack giggled. She looked down at the cobblestone instinctually and stared in the opposite direction of the young skeleton.

"Yes, I suppose it would be." The tour between the two lasted for hours that included laughter, roaming stares, smiles caught off guard, and blushing on both parts. Sally's favorite site was the ever curious Spiral Hill, though surrounded by the decaying corpses of who knows what, it held an air of mystery and beauty.

"So what did you think of Halloween Town, Sally?" She tried to summarize her entire field trip mentally to come up with her opinion.

"It really is something that I'd never be able to imagine in reality, but, I suppose that's what dreams are for." Jack's jaw nearly dropped off of his ashen skull.

"What do you mean dreams? Everything here is real, I hope you know this." She scoffed in response to the eighteen year old skeleton.

"Of course it isn't real. This is all just a barn's dream, Jack. I admit it, my dreams have definitely been out of the ordinary but there has never been anything I've seen, thought, or heard of that's similar to this place." She put the palm of her hand on the bark of a dying tree, accidentally pricking her finger and spilling a drop of blood on the tree, and to her surprise, the tree's dark and crumpled brown leafs turned into bright, florescent oranges and yellows.

She drew back in astonishment and held her hand to her chest.

"What just happened?" She asked Jack. He walked to the now healthy tree and inspected it, then saw her drop of blood had turned into a heart shape.

"Apparently, the tree fed off of your inner emotions when you cut your finger on it. Judging by the freshness of the tree's leafs and texture of the bark, it seems very Halloween loving." He said suspiciously. "Sally," He started, as though he were dealing with the little girl who stole from the cookie jar. "Are you lying to me?"

"Parish the thought, Skellington, this place is just another dreamscape!" Jack crossed his arms and tapped one of his fingers against the opposite upper arm.

"Not according to the tree, it isn't."

"If it's a dream then the tree is a part of it and that should be enough proof for a fictional character of your status to realize that." Jack continued to look at her sternly, not wavering until she broke. "You can stare at me all you wish but it won't falter my knowledge." She taunted as she started to head towards a different destination.

Jack followed closely behind her with extreme stealth and spider-like movement. She thought that she had lost him a while back and was now heading for the gates that led to the exit. Sally was almost to them when she dropped to her knees in pain. She had reopened three of her stitches and was now bleeding again, quite painfully as well.

"Damn! This can not be happening right now, not when I'm so close!" She sobbed. She was less than surprised to feel skeletal arms coil around her waist and lift her from the ground. "Cur; put me down!" She insulted him. Jack, not knowing exactly what she was saying, ignored the thrashing girl and went back to the doctor's lab.

"Doctor, we have a slight issue at hand." Jack said, not even bothering to knock.

"What's the problem?" The echo rang throughout the building.

"It's Sally," Jack complained, putting her on the table as she hissed through her teeth. "Some of her stitches have come undone and she's bleeding again."

"Not again." Doctor Finklestein muttered. Jack looked at him; not expecting him to say something similar to that.

"Again, what do you mean again? She's done this before?" The medical professional only nodded and took out his handy dandy needle and thread.

"Yes, over her stay the stitches have come out at least three or four times. I'm beginning to suspect that her body just can't handle this type of treatment."

"Well how can that be so?" The adolescent Pumpkin King inquired.

"Sally's never had a fatal wound quite like this before and the stitches, ugh, dear, how do I put this? The stitches are basically recoiling themselves to abort her flesh. She may have some skin condition of sorts but I'm not entirely positive. I've yet the chance to run an examination." He explained whilst stitching up the teenager.

"I have no skin condition of _any_ sort, canker blossom, thank you very much." She bit.

Jack crouched down a bit and whispered to Finklestein so that Sally couldn't hear him.

"What is she talking about?" He questioned, referring to her choice of name calling.

"It's a Shakespearean insult, Jack. Haven't you read his plays before?" Jack smiled sheepishly before walking back to Sally.

"What are we going to do with you, Sally? This has got to be your second or third time escaping. Tomorrow we will tour the town again as we did today and then you shall be settling in with me."

Sally felt her heart thud heavily against her chest and her blood rush through her veins as it boiled. Her fingers curled themselves into tight fists of angered surprise and her teeth ground against each other. She wanted to scream to the highest of Heavens her current exasperation but could only cry out one word.

"Carbuncle!"


End file.
